THE Manchester derby will be a game to forget for Daley Blind as his individual mistakes led to both goals for Manchester City .

However, one poor game shouldn’t change the fans views of his Manchester United career and Blind is still a key player for the Red Devils and will be looking to prove the critics wrong once again.

Blind formed a fantastic partnership with Chris Smalling last campaign, completing 55 appearances in all competitions, more than any Manchester United player for the past 21 seasons.

Both players went on to help the side keep 18 clean sheets in the league and conceding the join-fewest goals with Tottenham Hotspur.

Jose Mourinho

Most of the praise was given to Smalling as he finally showed his potential, having had a difficult time with breaking into the first team and injuries since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2010. But Blind deserves more credit, especially because of his excellent passing from defence.

It’s no secret that the Ajax graduate lacks the height and strength to be Manchester United’s long-term solution at centre-back, although Blind’s intelligence and reading of the game helps to cover these weaknesses he has as a defender.

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From the moment he arrived at Old Trafford, there were mixed thoughts on the signing, coming to the club on deadline day but mostly positives after Blind had a solid campaign for the Netherlands in the 2014 World Cup and producing the well-known assist for Robin Van Persie’s spectacular goal. Despite Louis Van Gaal’s time at the club not going the way most people would have predicted, Blind was one of his top performers during those two years.

The 26-year-old only has to look up to his father, Danny blind, as the perfect role model, who started his career as a full-back but was shifted into the centre-back role. Just like his son, Danny played under Louis Van Gaal at Ajax for six years and in that time they went on to win the Dutch league three times and the Champions League once.

Before his vital role at centre-back, Blind spent his first season predominately as a left-back and defensive midfielder, with his versatility being very useful for Manchester United through an injury crisis. Blind’s versatility is often taken for granted, and it will be more evident the day he leaves the club.

Daley Blind celebrates (Image: Getty Images)

There are still question marks regarding to Blind’s best position – having played as a centre-back, left-back, centre-midfield, left-midfielder and a defensive midfield throughout his career. During his days as a Ajax player, Daley Blind excelled as a defensive midfielder, the ideal role he should currently be playing under Jose Mourinho and also went on to helping the Dutch side win four league titles in a row.

With Mourinho preferring his defence to be strong and solid, it could reportedly lead to a partnership between Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, this would allow Blind to be used in a position further forward.

United’s current midfield is nowhere close to helping the club challenge for the league title and placing Blind in midfield can help increase the side’s tempo in the attacking half.

The double pivot of Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini followed by Wayne Rooney in the centre attacking midfield role, already has a lot of weaknesses written all over it.

Giving Pogba the advance role in midfield would mean Fellaini covering most of the defensive contributions and would leave the side very open on a counter-attack situation. Also, keeping in mind that the captain is rapidly ageing and Mourinho looks to be playing a system to accommodate him, not to accommodate our best players.

Paul Pogba (Image: Getty)

Manchester United haven’t spent £89million on Paul Pogba so he can contribute to the side’s defensive tasks and not help out in attack. For the Frenchman to thrive in his second spell at the club, the manager will need to move to a 4-3-3 setup and drop Rooney.

The captain was previously a fantastic playmaker, but his movement and direct balls out to the wings have been far too predictable. Also, keeping in mind that Fellaini isn’t a natural defensive midfielder, and will always want to push forward will create a lot of space for the opponents to move into. The midfield has become an easy weak link for other teams to exploit.

With the midfield’s performance being unacceptable, a case for Blind to be used in midfield should certainly be open. Whilst being used as a centre-back, he has become a scapegoat by the media just days after United lose a game, but Blind utilised in the centre of the pitch will take a lot of pressure off his shoulders and also provide the right balance the side currently needs. The link up from midfield to attack has been poor as well as the build up play from Rooney and Fellaini, one of them has to be dropped for Blind.

After three defeats in one week, it’s starting to be clear that Mourinho is a man without a plan and is still figuring how to get the best out of this United squad. There will most likely be some changes to the tactics and team selection, but taking Blind out of the team will just create more problems.

Blind was dropped for the games against Feyenoord and Watford recently, in which Manchester United went on to lose both fixtures, missing the individual’s ability to create or start attacks from the back.

Smalling and Bailly failed to produce the kind of passes that Blind usually completes, which led to the side retaining possession in their own half and not making the most out of it.

The Amsterdam-born player may not be a world class player, however he still has a role to play this season, whether it’s in defence or midfield.